After We Met, Until We Melt
by Northern Illumination
Summary: "After We Met, Until We Melt" picks up where Frozen left off- A happy ending in Arendale. Anna is to wed Kristoff and live their own fairy-tale, but Elsa hasn't found something that makes her happy besides her sister's happiness. It's time for Elsa's love story, and when she meets an odd stranger atop the North Mountain, it could just be the beginning of a beautiful love story.


"You may now kiss the bride," announces the priest. I smile proudly as Kristoff pulls Anna into a kiss. I didn't expect her wedding day to be so soon, or before I'd even met someone, but I was happy for her.  
"Time to celebrate!" Kristoff calls in my direction.  
"I'm on it!" I grin. The strong cold feeling surges through me that I always feel before using my power. I form a large oval skating rink and put a swan sculpture in the middle.  
"Romantic enough?" I ask Anna.  
"Perfect," she grins as she starts putting on her skates, "Thanks Els."  
"Well don't spend all evening with me; it's your wedding night!" I laugh.  
"Okay. You sure you're fine?" Anna asks.  
"I couldn't be happier for you," I reply quite honestly. I am happy for her. I'm sad for myself, sad that I feel alone when I have such a wonderful sister.  
Anna smiles and glides off towards Kristoff. I exhale and turn to look at the mountains. The sun is only just setting below the snowy peaks. I gaze off into the distance and suddenly I'm aware of a quiet rumbling sound. An avalanche!

~

"I'm sorry Anna, but I need to check it out. It could be a sign of an early melt. If the snow melts too quickly, it could reach the village and cause a flood," I explain.  
"It's that serious?" Anna sounds concerned.  
"Maybe, that's what I need to see," I say.  
"Okay... If you hurry back, you might make it in time to skate a bit!" Anna says positively, like she always does. Act optimistically, I mean. Unfortunately, the fear that consumes me makes it hard to have hope in much at all. See? My thoughts are so very depressing sometimes!  
I smile and take one of the royal horse's reins. When I swing over, I hear more crashing sounds of huge amounts of falling snow. I try not to frighten Anna by remaining calm as I ride away, but once I'm far away, my smile vanishes. The melting snow could be dangerous.

~

I stop the horse a ways away from the mountains and tie him to a tree. If I rode him up, it would be putting his life in danger, which I can't do. Instead, I position myself at the foot of the mountain and press my palms down to make a column of ice below me. The higher I go, the colder it gets, and the more adrenaline I feel. It's almost a good thing, this adventure. I've been cooped up at the palace for months helping with the wedding and all of that. Soon I'm level with the peak of a mountain, but my ice column is several meters away from it. I sweep my hands forwards and make an ice bridge. I step onto the bridge and take in the quiet, isolated mountain scenery. When I look down, I see the rocky snow covered mountain and hurry to the other side of the bridge. The peak of the mountain is quite the opposite of what I expected- It's not melting, quite the contrary; the snow is freezing over right before my eyes! Swirls of ice, almost a pattern, cover it. The ice stops a mere inch from me. What is going on? A memory stands out at the back of my mind.  
"Like Jack Frost!" Anna laughs as I show her how I can cover the window with ice.  
Jack Frost... But he's not real... There's no such thing as people who can actually make ice... Oh, wait. I can. Maybe Jack Frost is real... I smile and let out a laugh. While I blink, a man appears right in front of me, holding a walking stick and wearing a blue sweater.  
"Oh my God!" I gasp, absolutely startled.  
"You can see me…" he murmurs and leans closer. I continue to try and make sense of what just happened.

"What? Never seen ice magic before?" He gestures cheekily to my column of ice.  
"I've never seen a person just... appear in front of me before, that's enough to startle the living daylight out of anyone," I reply equally as cheeky.  
"Fair enough," says the man, "So, why are you up here?"  
"Just checking for a sign that our whole village could be flooded and everyone killed. Not much," I smile.  
"Okay then, what's your name?" He asks.  
"It's my turn to ask a question," I say.  
"Continue..." He encourages me.  
"What's yours?" I ask.  
"Jack. Frost." He says like 'Jack' and 'Frost' are two very, very separate words.  
"Well, Jack, why did you suddenly appear in front of me?" I ask curiously.  
"People who believe in me can see me. I was there all along... I guess you just started believing in me," he explains. I don't know what to say.  
"The avalanche!" I exclaim.  
"What?" Jack says, confused.  
"Did you see it happen?" I ask.  
"Oh, that. Of course I did, I caused it," he says casually as though he causes avalanches every day.  
"Why would you do that? You put my whole village at stake!" I say angrily.  
"I like to ride down avalanches! I was careful. Nothing bad happened to, erm..." he trails off.  
"Arendale. That's my village," I reply.  
"You say it like you own the place," Jack laughs.  
"I kind of do, sort of. I mean- I'm the queen," I smile.  
"Oh, well in that case, my formal apologies, your majesty," he grins.  
"Oh be quiet," I laugh. And then the awkward silence starts again. I look down at my hands.  
"You know, I never did catch your name," Jack breaks the silence.  
"Elsa," I mentally thank him for ending the awkward moment. "Why don't you come to Arendale? You must need some rest after... Whatever you were doing."  
"Thanks for the offer, but I've already got plans," Jack says sadly.  
"Oh," I say, disappointed. Wait, I just met him. Why do I want him to stay so badly?  
"I was joking," Jack chuckles. "You looked upset. Am I growing on you?"  
I smirk and turn to my ice bridge. "You can think what you want."  
Jack follows me across the bridge, but doesn't follow me as I step onto the ice column I plan to melt slowly.  
"Afraid of heights?" I ask, even though I can tell he wouldn't be up here in the first place if he was.  
"I like taking the wind," says Jack. "Want to join me?"  
"Okay," I answer, even though I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.  
"Here. Grab onto this," he holds out his walking stick / cane thing. "Actually, never mind. Take this instead," he holds out his hand.  
My heart pounds loudly and I'm sure he can hear it. I feel vulnerable for the first time in a long time, but I feel like I can trust him. Without a word, I take his hand. To anyone else, he would be ice cold. To me, he's perfect.

~


End file.
